Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world, you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life and travel leaves marks on you. - Anthony Bourdain
I certainly feel this way about South Africa, more specifically, the Western Cape. This place will forever hold residence in my heart and I can't imagine the rest of my life without it. It absolutely feels like home, for many reasons. I can't believe I leave and head back to England on Monday, time really does fly.
Last weekend my partner and I took to the beautiful roads of South Africa, route 27, and headed out on a trip to a place called Club Mykonos in Langebaan which is in the Western Cape. It's about 2 hours and 45 minutes drive from where we live so it was a nice drive and the weather was just beautiful! We were looking forward to discovering a new place and it was described as being "a little piece of Greece" (I guess the clue is in the name)! We had a lovely time and both agreed that we would like to visit again.
The resort itself is huge and the architecture is amazing, obviously I took a ton of photos being the photographer wannabe that I am haha! In fact, the resort has its own photographer that you can use and they take you to the best spots to get those lovely holiday snap shots! The apartment that we stayed in overlooked the swimming pool (1 of about 7) and the sea which was nice. I love being by the water, it almost acts as a reminder as to how "small" I am in comparison to Mother Nature, like I could just be blown away in the wind in an instant, or washed away and swallowed hole by the current. It certainly gives perspective. Anyway, back to "Greece" lol.
There's so much one can do on the resort from the tennis courts, squash courts, football courts, swimming pools, sea bikes, a spa, sky park, quad biking, the casino, boat trips, putt putt, donkey rides, hiking trails or just a nice walk along the beach (direct access) it has plenty to offer. We did have a look (a couple of times lol) around the casino, neither of us had a clue what to do having never gambled before so we just decided to have a bit of fun (which included having to get someone to explain to us how to play the machines haha!). Anyway, we didn't win anything but it was an experience, one that I think both of us are happy not to have again lol.
We didn't do anything that's listed in the photo above, we just enjoyed being on the resort, admiring the scenery, going to the dockside where the restaurants are and looking out at the boats. It was nice to be somewhere different, taking in new sights and top up the memory bank.
We did take a drive into Langebaan which was very close to the resort. There's not really a great deal to see, other than the lagoon and the beach, a small centre with boutique shops etc and a couple of restaurants. We stopped and had a drink whilst we tried to decide what to do for dinner that night (the task I am sure many of us don't look forward to lol). After that we had a walk along the beach, saw lots of dogs - that always makes my heart happy, and then we headed back to the car and back to the resort to have dinner at the dockside restaurant which is pictured above. Some snaps from Langebaan...
We were due to leave the resort the next day and so we decided to have one last look around. I checked out the gift shop and got a magnet for the fridge and a cute little bookmark. The shop had lots of nice things and there were cabinets throughout the resort with lots of merchandise to choose from. We both chose a licence disc holder for the car and I also got a keyring, because you just have to, right? Lol
I particularly liked this display, I loved the colours of the rings and how it was put together! I wanted to buy one but I couldn't decide which one and so I didn't, haha!
A few more pics from "the little piece of Greece"...
As well as donkey rides for the children, there's also tuk tuk rides! I've never been on one before (and still haven't lol) but I understand they're quite awkward to drive, although in this case they come with a driver so you don't have to worry haha! They do trips around the resort and local excursions!
We packed up and handed in the keys and headed back out onto the road. We stopped about half way at a "padstal" (Afrikaans for farm stall) that we passed on the way. Again, we didn't realise how big it was and it actually had a bird sanctuary, pigs, alpacas, a nursery, a bakery and a restaurant! It was a lovely spot. That's one of the things I love about this country, it's endless hidden gems. It was all going so well until I took a picture of a bird and it stuck it's head out the cage and bit my phone... That'll teach me I suppose!
The culprit!
This guy is my spirit animal! You can guess which one ;)
After a look around and my falling out with the bird lol, we continued the drive and pondered on what to eat for dinner. It wasn't long before we were stuffing our faces, it was a great end to an amazing weekend!
Until next time... ❤️❤️❤️
#ilovesouthafrica
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Me too, so so much 🥰
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Oh gosh! Now I'm longing for the West Coast!
I've always said that the day I retire, I want to do it in Paternoster, and now.. now I am sitting on the total opposite side of the country.
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These are some of the best pictures I've seen on Steemit in a while.
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Wow, what a lovely comment to receive, thank you so much! I really appreciate that :)
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TEAM 5
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Thank you so much, I really appreciate it!!
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